1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of wagering games, particularly wagering games in which random selections are distributed onto a defined field according to the number or symbol of the selection, particularly as in bingo or keno.
2. Background of the Art
In the gaming industry, the underlying basis of all games is the provision of random events having determinable measures of outcomes. Wagers are placed against specific outcomes, and those wagers are resolved based upon the final or intermediate outcome of events. Many different gaming elements are used to provide the random outcome of events, including but not limited to playing cards, dice, roulette wheels, candy wheels, random ball selection, and since the introduction of processors to the gaming industry, random event generation through random number generator. The use of random number generators and processors has enabled the generation of random symbols and numbers corresponding to the physical objects traditionally used in wagering games such as the dice, playing cards, roulette wheels and random ball selection (as in bingo and keno). The addition of processors enables more rapid play, and more ability to design variations in game play than with purely physical systems. Many different and new forms of wagers can also be provided and more quickly resolved by the processor than by croupier or dealer manual resolution.
Basically, players buy cards with numbers on them in a 5×5 grid corresponding to the five letters in the word B-I-N-G-O. Numbers such as B-2 or 0-68 are then drawn at random (out of a possible 75 in American Bingo, and 90 in British and Australian Bingo) until one player completes a ‘Bingo’ pattern, such as a line with five numbers in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row on one of their cards and wins the prize. There are many possible patterns to play for. There are some variants of Bingo that use 3×3 playing cards.
A bingo Card contains 24 numbered spaces and one free space (blank), with which you play BINGO. The numbers are assigned at random on each card and are arranged in five columns of five numbers each by five rows (5×5=25 in total including the blank square).
The numbers in the B column are between 1 and 15, in the I column between 16 and 30, in the N column (containing four numbers and the free space) between 31 and 45, in the G column between 46 and 60, and in the O column between 61 and 75.
Players have thousands of unique (unduplicated) cards to choose from. Some manufacturers print unduplicated series of 6,000 cards. There are also series of 9,000 cards available. Hard cards and Flimsy cards have a series number printed on them. For example, card number 1252 will always have the same numbers in the same spaces.
Among the variants of Bingo that have been suggested in the art are the following. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20060160603 (Lulek) discloses a video gaming system that combines multi-card bingo play with familiar and desirable entertainment elements such as spinning reels with fruit or other symbols. The game programming produces multiple bingo card representations on monitors at a plurality of game terminals. Drawn numbers (“balls”) are displayed one after another. An eight card bingo game pays a prize for a bingo win achieved on a card when less than a predetermined number of balls have been drawn and also when a cover-all or other predetermined game-ending pattern is achieved on a card that has not previously provided a prize affording win. A nine card eight line game displays bingo cards in a three-by-three grid. Prizes are awarded for pre-selected bingo wins accomplished in one of eight three-in-a-row patterns of cards running horizontally, vertically or diagonally. In the nine card, eight line game each winning card is associated with a symbol representative of the bingo win. The symbol is presented by a representation of a spinning reel coming to rest at that symbol.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20040121834 (Libby) discloses a lottery bingo system graphically portraying an animated bingo game. The lottery system includes a bingo game generator which comprises an animation drawing subsystem. The animation drawing subsystem retrieves bingo call video segments corresponding to a sequence of drawn bingo numbers randomly drawn for a bingo game after dispensing of bingo tickets for the bingo game is ended, and compiles the bingo call video segments into a bingo game video.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,070,161 (Ward) describes wagering systems using a game ball has two different game indicia associated therewith. One or more of such game balls may be part of a set of game balls, such as a set of balls used to play a bingo, keno or lottery game where the game indicia may comprise numbers used to play lottery or keno, or combinations of letters and numbers for play of a bingo game. Compared to game balls bearing a single game indicia, selection of a game ball bearing multiple game indicia presents a player with an increased or bonus matching opportunity. The game balls may be physical elements or be electronic representations, such as displayed images, thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,002,623 (Resnick) provides methods and devices for presenting a plurality of game elements on one or more display devices. The game elements may comprise, for example, bingo cards, playing cards, hands of playing cards, etc. Some implementations of the invention involve displaying a plurality of game elements as surfaces of a three-dimensional object. Preferably, the orientation of the three-dimensional object can be varied to display selected game elements. The game elements may be selected by a player and/or by a logic device. In some implementations, the three-dimensional object comprises a “carousel” that can be re-oriented (e.g., rotated) to display game elements.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,794,319 and 7,481,707 (Luciano) disclose a system and method for generating bingo game bonuses that are non-banked, for use with pooled bingo games. The system generates pools of money for use in bingo games by deducting a percentage of the amount used to purchase bingo cards (in the present invention, virtual bingo cards). Each bingo game automatically enrolls active players in one or more bonus games, exemplified by “4 corners,” where the amounts to be given away to players as bonuses are calculated to be equal, over time, to the amount taken in from players buying bingo cards. The house has no stake in the bonus awards.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,091 (Weingardt) describes a bingo game in which bingo numbers are assigned to at least five different groups. The groups are preferably identified by color, and the size of the groups preferably vary, with the result that a bingo consisting of a combination of numbers from the smallest group will be harder to achieve than a bingo consisting of a combination of numbers from a larger group. The jackpot sizes will vary in relation to the difficulty of achieving a particular bingo. The group sizes are within certain preferred ranges, designed to minimize the risk of premature bingos and thus to increase jackpot size and player excitement. Preferably, image type indicia are also added to certain of the numbers, creating additional bingo combinations and jackpot opportunities.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,695,361 (Lind) describes determination of a pattern probability by for each of a number of target patterns achievable in a bingo-type game. Each pattern probability comprises a probability of achieving the respective target pattern in the bingo-type game. Different pattern sets are then associated with each different prize level in a desired prize distribution. The target patterns and their respective pattern probabilities are assigned or mapped to the different pattern sets so that the probability of achieving any target pattern included in a pattern set comprises a value approximating the desired probability of the prize level with which the pattern set is associated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,002 (Faciglia) describes a device for playing a bingo-style game including an input device for receiving user inputs; a display for displaying a graphic user interface (GUI); and a processor. The GUI includes a five column by five row random number display matrix; five display regions; and a plurality of user-actuatable icons. The processor includes a first random number generator for generating five sets of random numbers for display by the five column by five row random number display matrix, in which the five sets of random numbers are grouped in predetermined ranges. The processor also includes a second random number generator which responds to the user inputs corresponding to actuation of the actuation icon by the user for generating a sixth set of random numbers for display by the five display regions. The processor compares the sixth set of random numbers displayed in the five display regions with the numbers in the columns of the display matrix, and allows the processor to automatically cover the matching number in the display matrix. The processor determines whether the display matrix has five numbers covered in a row, in a column, or in a diagonal, and generates a bingo indication signal for indicating a bingo condition.